After several minutes Sam turned to me and said, “So.”
I tried to remember all the things I’d spent the past seventeen hundred miles preparing to tell him. But before I could say anything, Sam reached over and touched the scar on my forehead. As he did, I thought about how I once believed it all started with the hockey puck. But it really all started when I knocked on the front door of a run-down house in Berkeley, even though I was terrified, even though I knew I could get hurt. And that, in the end, was the true beginning.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am incredibly grateful to all the people who gave me feedback on this story, helped with child care so I could write, or answered random research questions such as, “What does northern Indiana smell like in early July?” My deepest thanks go out to: Lynn Harris Adelson, Chloe Annetts, Mara Bergman, Judy Blume, Meg Cabot, Anne Dalton, Erin Golden, Jenny Greenberg, Susanna Greenberg, Emma Hofman, Kathleen Jaccarino, Diane Klock, Oliver Kuhn-Wilken, Jeff Layton, Ian Mackler, Miriam Martinez, Megan McCafferty, Jim Miceli, Deborah Noyes Wayshak, Nitsa Papouras-Seidman, Ruth Rath, Stephanie Rath, Jodi Reamer, Amy Reese, Jared and Courtnee Rideout, Neal and Karen Rideout, everyone at Riverside Montessori School, Alison Seidman, Derek Seidman, Michelle Seidman, Chris Smialek, Sonya Sones, Rebecca Wertkin, Debra Wolf, and Anders Wright.
And a special thanks to Jonas and Miles Rideout for filling my life with so much love.
ALSO BY CAROLYN MACKLER
What do you do when your whole family is perfect and you’re not?
The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things
Carolyn Mackler
A MICHAEL L. PRINTZ HONOR BOOK
AN AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION BEST BOOK FOR YOUNG ADULTS
“Body image problems, family discord, a teenage contrarian narrating — is this anything new? Yes, because fifteen-year-old Virginia Shreves is so well-constructed a character that we like spending time with her.” — Chicago Tribune
“I couldn’t help but root for Virginia as she tries to overcome her problems . . . changing from a frumpy geekster into a serious, butt-kicking feminist.” — ELLEgirl
www.candlewick.com
Vegan Virgin Valentine
A straight-A student, a vegan, and a virgin, senior Mara Valentine is on track to achieve all of her goals. That is until her slutty, pot-smoking, sixteen-year-old niece — yes, niece — comes to live with Mara’s family. Before Mara knows it, things are spinning out of control.
This fast-paced … story is charged with sarcasm, angst, honesty, and hope.” — Voice of Youth Advocates
Funny and optimistic.” — Kirkus Reviews
www.candlewick.com
Carolyn Mackler is the author of the acclaimed The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things, a Michael L. Printz Honor Book, as well as the award-winning novels Vegan Virgin Valentine and Love and Other Four-Letter Words. About Guyaholic, she says, “I wanted V to have a love story with a perfect fairy-tale ending. But when you’re seventeen, hurt, and restless, it’s not that easy to dive into commitment — even if he’s Prince Charming. In telling this story, I had to see how far V would go to find her happily ever after.” Carolyn Mackler lives in New York City with her husband and young son.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or, if real, are used fictitiously.
Copyright © 2007 by Carolyn Mackler
Cover photograph copyright © 2009 by
Stuart McClymont/Stone/Getty Images
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in an information retrieval system in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, taping, and recording, without prior written permission from the publisher.
First electronic edition 2012
The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:
Mackler, Carolyn.
Guyaholic / Carolyn Mackler. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
Summary: V, the queen of the meaningless hookup, has been with Sam for a pretty long time, but when she panics after graduation and messes everything up, it takes a solo driving trip from New York to visit her irresponsible mother in Texas before she learns enough about herself to know what she really wants.
ISBN 978-0-7636-2537-5 (hardcover)
[1. Self-perception — Fiction. 2. Emotional problems — Fiction. 3. Interpersonal relations — Fiction. 4. Sex — Fiction. 5. Mothers and daughters — Fiction. 6. Automobile travel — Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.M2178Gu 2007
[Fic] — dc22 2007024098
ISBN 978-0-7636-2801-7 (paperback)
ISBN 978-0-7636-6001-7 (electronic)
Candlewick Press
99 Dover Street
Somerville, Massachusetts 02144
visit us at www.candlewick.com
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Dedication
Sam
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Sam
Acknowledgments
Also by Carolyn Mackler
About the Author
Copyright
Guyaholic Page 13
